Features p11

As a downtrodden actress in Extras - a kind of female Stan Laurel to Ricky Gervais's Hardy - Ashley Jensen epitomised gormlessness. But it was a canny role to win, and now US sitcom superstardom beckons. By Phil Hogan.

Features p14

It's thrilled millions of teenage girls, saved people from bombing in Bosnia, and - so the creator of Dirty Dancing claims - helped bring down the Berlin Wall. How did a low-budget chick flick become one of the most adored films of all time, and now a West End stage phenomenon before it's even opened?

Features p17

Features p18

DVD club: Polanski made two films in America. The first is the occult horror movie Rosemary's Baby. The second is the magnificent Chinatown, set in a wonderfully recreated 1937 Los Angeles. Together with his Polish debut Knife in the Water (1963) and the low-budget British pictures Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac, shot back-to-back in 1965-66, they constitute the core of his oeuvre.

Features p31

Features p45

The comedian has come a long way since his days on late-night television. Yet, despite rave reviews for his latest films and the chance of a Hollywood career, his ability to offend still has critics wondering if the joke is on us.

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